Monday, September 16, 2013

Both of my daughters were flower girls in my brother-in-law’s wedding, and I was so glad that the dresses I hacked stood up to the occasion. Their little brother wasn’t my project, but doesn’t he look handsome too? It was fun to see them so dressed up (we are normally the definition of casual).

The bride and I trolled the interwebs for some inspiration, and came upon the dress above right. She loved it, and it looked pretty straight forward with tubular bodice and gathered A-line skirt. Lots of layers and overlays, but not complicated pattern-wise. I measured the girls and drafted skirts on the computer with Cochenille. I made a muslin out of an old sheet to get the proportions right, and making a side by side photo comparison like the one above really helped me to adjust the bodice length to match that of our inspiration dress. I ordered wide lace online (and I apologize that I am too lazy to look up from whence it came, since the details have since been packed up in our move or lost in the great Comcast Fail of 2013). The double faced 1.5” navy satin ribbon for the sash came from The Ribbon Loft on Etsy. The lining and skirt was taffeta in ivory from Joanns. The overskirt was ivory organza.

There was A LOT of rolled hemming involved, since each dress had three gathered circle skirt layers. Practice makes perfect. They really turned out as well as I could have hoped (though there was seam ripping involved, to be sure). These dresses took quite a bit of time, but they were absolutely worth the effort. The sparkly pink shoes came from Target, the headbands from The Children’s Place Outlet, and the orchid pomanders were arranged by the amazingly talented Ruth Monteith at The Wedding Fairies in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

Even lovely dresses and having an amazing photographer doesn’t guarantee that you can capture 4 kids smiling at the same time. Still, I appreciate having a real-life reminder of this very special day.

I almost forgot… I also made a matching teeny 0-3 month baby dress for my adorable little niece from the remnants. I used the Baby Geranium Dress pattern from the very talented Made by Rae. Sadly, the lack of vent in the skirt made it impossible for her to get into the dress on the day of the wedding (I noticed this before I made it but ignored my gut instinct). The pattern is great and certainly worth sewing, but this combination of bigger girly and no dress egress was doomed from the start. It was still a fun project and maybe someday a treasured doll will get to wear it. Regardless, I’m over it, and glad I took pictures :)

I also made the fancy little man cuffed pants and suspenders (and bowtie) my little guy is wearing (he was playing baseball out back during the reception). So much cuteness. And he DANCED for us! Good stuff. I may eventually put up a pattern for the pants. Maybe when I’m settled into my own house again :)

That about concludes the wedding details. I don’t know what I will write about next, but I have a lot of real life going on around here and we may need some less glorious subject matter after the elegance and style of this summery wedding. The wedding may be over, but the good times have only just begun…

Right after I ordered a dress for my daughter, I decided to check reviews for them. I didn't think to do it before, and I'm so glad. I read scary reviews about communication and returns with Flower Girl Dress for Less. Allure Wedding Dresses